3 10 56 https://revolution.chnm.org/files/original/8cee01ce23e0333416ec1f49233ad382.jpg 8d4ea9a74ea8ef850c791cdb8caa5370 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Title (French) The image's title, in French. Intérieur d'un comité révolutionnaire sur le régime de la terreur Title (English) The image's title, in English. Inside a Revolutionary Committee during the Terror Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Etching and engraving Physical Dimensions The actual physical size of the original image 24 x 29 cm Caption The image's caption. années 1793 et 1794, ou années 2.e et 3.e de la République Sortable Date 1802-00-00 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Bibliothèque nationale de France Description An account of the resource The extremely respectful view of sans–culotte militancy is evident in this image, engraved by the revolutionary sculptor Berthault and based on a painting by Fragonard, the son of the famous old regime painter. Imitating an old master’s interior scene, it shows a committee somberly meting out revolutionary justice. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Pierre-Gabriel Berthault (engraver) Claude Nicolas Malapeau (engraver) Alexandre Fragonard (designer) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Public Domain Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource JPEG Language A language of the resource French Title A name given to the resource Inside a Revolutionary Committee during the Reign of Terror Relation A related resource http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/110/|Michel Hennin. Estampes relatives à l'Histoire de France. Tome 135, Pièces 11862-11947, période : 1794|de Vinck. Un siècle d'histoire de France par l'estampe, 1770-1870. Vol. 48 (pièces 6461-6583), Ancien Régime et Révolution Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1802 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 110 Clubs Image Popular Politics Sans-culottes The Terror Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document THE PSYCHOLOGY OF REVOLUTIONARY CROWDS General Characteristics of the Crowd Whatever their origin, revolutions do not produce their full effects until they have penetrated the soul of the multitude. They therefore represent a consequence of the psychology of crowds. Although I have studied collective psychology at length in another volume, I must here recall its principal laws. Man, as part of a multitude, is a very different being from the same man as an isolated individual. His conscious individuality vanishes in the unconscious personality of the crowd. Material contact is not absolutely necessary to produce in the individual the mentality of the crowd. Passions and sentiments, provoked by certain events, are often sufficient to create it. The collective mind, momentarily formed, represents a very special kind of aggregate. Its chief peculiarity is that it is entirely dominated by unconscious elements, and is subject to a peculiar collective logic. Among the other characteristics of crowds, we must note their infinite credulity and exaggerated sensibility, their shortsightedness, and their incapacity to respond to the influences of reason. Affirmation, contagion, repetition, and prestige constitute almost the only means of persuading them. Reality and experience have no effect upon them. The multitude will admit anything; nothing is impossible in the eyes of the crowd. By reason of the extreme sensibility of crowds, their sentiments, good or bad, are always exaggerated. This exaggeration increases still further in times of revolution. The least excitement will then lead them to act with the utmost fury. Their credulity, so great even in the normal state, is still further increased; the most improbable statements are accepted. Arthur Young relates that when he visited the springs near Clermont, at the time of the French Revolution, his guide was stopped by the people, who were persuaded that he had come by Order of the Queen to mine and blow up the town. The most horrible tales concerning the Royal Family were circulated, depicting it as a nest of ghouls and vampires. These various characteristics show that man in the crowd descends to a very low degree in the scale of civilization. He becomes a savage, with all a savage's faults and qualities, with all his momentary violence, enthusiasm, and heroism. In the intellectual domain a crowd is always inferior to the isolated unit. In the moral and sentimental domain it may be his superior. A crowd will commit a crime as readily as an act of abnegation. Personal characteristics vanish in the crowd, which exerts an extraordinary influence upon the individuals which form it. The miser becomes generous, the skeptic a believer, the honest man a criminal, the coward a hero. Examples of such transformations abounded during the great Revolution. As part of a jury or a parliament, the collective man renders verdicts or passes laws of which he would never have dreamed in his isolated condition. One of the most notable consequences of the influence of a collectivity upon the individuals who compose it is the unification of their sentiments and wills. This psychological unity confers a remarkable force upon crowds. The formation of such a mental unity results chiefly from the fact that in a crowd gestures and actions are extremely contagious. Acclamations of hatred, fury, or love are immediately approved and repeated. What is the origin of these common sentiments, this common will? They are propagated by contagion, but a point of departure is necessary before this contagion can take effect. Without a leader the crowd is an amorphous entity incapable of action. A knowledge of the laws relating to the psychology of crowds is indispensable to the interpretation of the elements of our Revolution, and to a comprehension of the conduct of revolutionary assemblies, and the singular transformations of the individuals who form part of them. Pushed by the unconscious forces of the collective soul, they more often than not say what they did not intend, and vote what they would not have wished to vote. Although the laws of collective psychology have sometimes been divined instinctively by superior statesmen, the majority of Governments have not understood and do not understand them because they do not understand that so many of them have fallen so easily. PSYCHOLOGICAL ILLUSIONS RESPECTING THE FRENCH REVOLUTION Illusions respecting Primitive Man, the Return to a State of Nature, and the Psychology of People We have already repeated, and shall again repeat, that the errors of a doctrine do not hinder its propagation, so that all we have to consider here is its influence upon men's minds. But although the criticism of erroneous doctrines is seldom of practical utility, it is extremely interesting from a psychological point of view. The philosopher who wishes to understand the working of men's minds should always carefully consider the illusions which they live with. Never, perhaps, in the course of history have these illusions appeared so profound and so numerous as during the Revolution. One of the most prominent was the singular conception of the nature of our first ancestors and primitive societies. Anthropology not having as yet revealed the conditions of our remoter forbears, men supposed, being influenced by the legends of the Bible, that they had issued perfect from the hands of the Creator. The first societies were models which were afterwards ruined by civilization, but to which mankind must return. The return to the state of nature was very soon the general cry. "The fundamental principle of all morality, of which I have treated in my writings," said Rousseau, "is that man is a being naturally good, loving justice and order." Modern science, by determining, from the surviving remnants, the conditions of life of our first ancestors, has long ago shown the error of this doctrine. Primitive man has become an ignorant and ferocious brute, as ignorant as the modern savage of goodness, morality, and pity. Governed only by his instinctive impulses, he throws himself on his prey when hunger drives him from his cave, and falls upon his enemy the moment he is aroused by hatred. Reason, not being born, could have no hold over his instincts. The aim of civilization, contrary to all revolutionary intentions, has been not to return to the state of nature but to escape from it. It was precisely because the Jacobins led mankind back to the primitive condition by destroying all the social restraints without which no civilization can exist that they transformed a political society into a barbarian horde. The ideas of these theorists concerning the nature of man were about as valuable as those of a Roman general concerning the power of omens. Yet their influence as motives of action was considerable. The Convention was always inspired by such ideas. The errors concerning our primitive ancestors were excusable enough, since before modern discoveries had shown us the real conditions of their existence these were absolutely unknown. But the absolute ignorance of human psychology displayed by the men of the Revolution is far less easy to understand. It would really seem as though the philosophers and writers of the eighteenth century must have been totally deficient in the smallest faculty of observation. They lived amidst their contemporaries without seeing them and without understanding them. Above all, they had not a suspicion of the true nature of the popular mind. The man of the people always appeared to them in the likeness of the chimerical model created by their dreams. As ignorant of psychology as of the teachings of history, they considered the plebeian man as naturally good, affectionate, grateful, and always ready to listen to reason. The speeches delivered by members of the Assembly show how profound were these illusions. When the peasants began to burn the chateaux they were greatly astonished, and addressed them in sentimental, harangues, praying them to cease, in order not to "give pain to their good king" and adjured them "to surprise him by their virtues." Sortable Date 1913-00-00 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Gustave Le Bon, The Psychology of Revolution, trans. Bernard Miall (London: T. Fisher Unwin, [1895] 1913), 102–5, 158–60. Description An account of the resource Gustave Le Bon (1841–1931) disparaged the Revolution and the revolutionary legacy because he distrusted the common person, particularly when making collective decisions. His analysis of revolutionary crowds pictured them as primitive animals devoid of good decision–making abilities who had to be reigned in by a "strong man" or dictatorial figure. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 628 Title A name given to the resource Le Bon, The Psychology of Revolution Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/628/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1913 Clubs Public Opinion Text The Terror https://revolution.chnm.org/files/original/cd830df4f421f1d0b3426eeabc8ea6c1.jpg 6ff03cdc461fe7932db14689ccf47499 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Engraving Physical Dimensions The actual physical size of the original image 33 x 24.5 cm Title (French) The image's title, in French. La Liberté Sortable Date 1793-00-00 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Bibliothèque Nationale de France Description An account of the resource Even before the Revolution, the French had used a woman in a toga to symbolize liberty. By July 1789 this symbol had become quite common and would only grow more familiar over the revolutionary decade. Generally the female Liberty was a poised counterpart to the frantic actions of the Revolution. She represented calm like a saint. Belonging to no group and no particular place, she stood for a universal principle based on reason. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Madame de Monchy (engraver) Louis-Simon Boizot (designer) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Public Domain Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource JPEG Language A language of the resource French Title A name given to the resource Liberty Relation A related resource http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/4/|Collection de Vinck. Un siècle d'histoire de France par l'estampe, 1770-1870. Vol. 44 (pièces 5943-6108), Ancien Régime et Révolution Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1793-1794 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 4 Clubs Enlightenment Image Popular Politics Women Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document History will be hard pressed to describe the insolent imprecations of a crowd of misfits in the sections calling loudly for disorder and extermination. They created the council of the Commune, from where everything that extravagance and human deprivation could imagine as most vile and atrocious poured out everyday against the citizens of Paris who had any means of existence whatsoever. They fought there, hitting each other with chairs, but never coming to final blows. These wretches, after a few debates between themselves, reunited to make the Convention victorious. All of their secret meetings tended to perpetuate revolutionary atrocities. The petitions that originated in these secret meetings were so ridiculous and so seditious that Isnard, President of the Convention, strained and exhausted by the din of the sections, declared in the name of France that if anyone attempted to question the inviolability of the Convention amidst the citizens of Paris, then someday someone would come to the banks of the Seine looking for the site where this city once existed. You cannot image the roar that arose from all the conspirators at this strongly worded statement. From then on, no other words were heard in Paris except "The Convention wants to destroy the capital." The Jacobins seemed to share the fury of the people in the sections. Hébert became the patriot par excellence, a good magistrate. Marat's halo shone even more. The Commission of Twelve was dissolved, and that served as the signal for total anarchy. Fearful, Garat, the Minister of the Interior, sided with these villains, affirming that all was calm and that no conspiracy existed. . . and all the while daggers were being sharpened! Hébert, had been released from prison, which was a real triumph for this group of seditionists, and a sure harbinger of the death, or banishment, of his enemies. When he arrived, the lower classes showered him with coronets and civic awards that he took and modestly draped over the busts of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Brutus. . . . After having arrested three of four seditionists charged with crimes, the Commission of Twelve was covered with disgrace, the majority of its members dragged to the scaffold, and the others escaping death only by hiding in caverns, in the woods, or fleeing to a foreign country. The revolution of 31 May [–2 June 1793] avenged a hoard of killers. There were always three or four foreigners, and as many crooks, among the audacious commissioners of the sections, ever ready to declare that Paris was in a state of insurrection against tyranny. All of Paris was under arms, but without knowing for what reason. Municipal sashes were seen all through the faubourgs, or inviting them to march in the name of the sovereign people. [Commander of the National Guard] Hanriot had cannons moved here, there, and everywhere. The cannons were moved, brought back, and brought out again the next day when the Mountain section, screaming and shouting, had decreed that the sections of Paris had earned the recognition of their countrymen. To play such games on such a day was certainly a sad display, but it was to become an never-ending source of terrible calamities for all of France. With all the inhabitants of a city as enormous as Paris called to arms, the Commune then had the audacity to overrun all authority, and after having given it a try, became, to everyone's great surprise, a formidable power. The Mountain section then became advisors to the Commune . . . . They only came to the Convention to betray it and dissolve it, and what was even worse, to slander it, in that they had compelled the Convention itself to praise the 31st of May in such a way that the departments, forever being fooled, were in total ignorance of what was going on in Paris. Sortable Date 1798-00-00 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Louis-Sébastien Mercier, Le Nouveau Paris, 6 vols. (Paris: Fuchs, Ch. Pougens et Ch. Fr. Cramer, Libraires, 1798–99), 1:129–32. Description An account of the resource With the founding of the Republic, the forty–eight sectional assemblies of Paris declared themselves in "permanent session" so they could exercise constant vigilance over the Convention and over political events in general. In addition to their local administrative and judicial powers, the sections served as important forums for radical voices, such as Hébert and Marat. Those in the sections spoke of themselves as sans–culottes ("without breeches") and considered themselves the most committed and sincere revolutionaries of all—and thus responsible for ensuring the virtue and patriotism of all others. To this end, the sections planned the great "journées" (day–long demonstrations), such as that of 31 May–2 June, designed to pressure the Commune and Convention to adopt ever more radical positions and thus to push the Revolution forward. In this article from his periodical The New Paris, Louis–Sébastien Mercier describes the sections with a mixture of mockery (of their self–importance) and respect (of their power to mobilize the people). Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 406 Title A name given to the resource Mercier, The New Paris: "Sections" Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/406/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1798 Clubs Popular Politics Sans-culottes Text Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document [Le Chapelier spoke on behalf of the constitutional committee:] . . . One duty remains to your former constitutional committee. That duty is imposed upon it by you, by its love for the public good, and by its desire to secure and propagate all the principles preserving the constitution that France has just received after two and a half years of travails and alarms. We are going to speak to you about these organizations formed from an enthusiasm for liberty, and to which they owe their prompt establishment. We speak of those organizations which, during stormy periods, had the fortunate result of rallying public morale, providing centers for similar views, and showing the opposing minority the enormous size of the majority that wanted to exterminate the abuses, reverse the prejudices, and establish a free constitution. But like all spontaneous institutions created from the purest of motives, due to considerable changes in circumstances and various other causes, they soon deviate from their goal and end up taking on a kind of political role that they should not. As long as the Revolution lasted, this state of affairs was almost always more useful than harmful. When a nation changes its form of government, every citizen becomes a magistrate. Everyone deliberates, and should deliberate, on the State, and everything that expedites, everything that ensures, everything that speeds a Revolution, must be put to use. It is a momentary agitation that must be sustained and even increased so that the Revolution leaves no doubt in the minds of its opponents, encounters fewer obstacles, and reaches its end more quickly. But when the Revolution is over and the constitution of the State has been decided, when all public powers have been delegated and all the authorities called up, then everything must be restored to the most perfect order to ensure the security of that constitution. Then, nothing must hinder the actions of the constituted authorities, and deliberation and the power to act must be located where the constitution has placed them and nowhere else. Everyone must also recognize his own rights and responsibilities as a citizen, never exceeding the former nor violating the latter. The Societies of Friends of the Constitution have done too many favors for the State, and they are driven by excessive patriotism, so normally it is necessary to do no more than just warn their members of the dangers that these organizations pose to the State. They are dragged into illegal actions by men who cultivate them only to stir them up. . . . All citizens have the right to peaceful assembly. In a free country, where a constitution, founded on the rights of man, has created a homeland, an intense and profound feeling attaches all inhabitants to the State. They feel the need to take care of it and discuss it. Far from extinguishing or restricting this sacred fire, all social institutions must help to sustain it. But, in addition to this general interest, this deep affection created by the existence of a homeland, and the free use of citizen's rights, the maxims of public order and representative government must be in evidence. There is no power except that constituted by the will of the People and expressed through their representatives. There are no authorities except those delegated by the People, and there can be no actions except those of its representatives who have been entrusted with public duties. It is to preserve this principle, in all its purity, that the constitution has abolished all corporations, from one end of the state to another, and henceforth recognizes only society as a whole, and individuals. A necessary consequence of this principle is the prohibition of any petition or poster issued in the name of a group. Organizations, peaceful assemblies of citizens, and clubs; all go unnoticed in the State. Should they abandon the private status granted them by the constitution, they rise up against the constitution, thereby destroying it instead of defending it. From that point on the invaluable rallying cry—"Friends of the Constitution"—seems nothing more than a cry of agitation designed to upset the legitimate exercise of authority. These organizations are, for the most part, composed of worthy citizens, true friends of the homeland and avid defenders of the constitution. They will easily understand us when we tell them that, if the Revolution has sometimes driven them to outward acts, the established constitution condemns such acts or that they cannot be affiliated to any of the major cities without being compared to the corporations that have been destroyed . . . and that this political role, necessarily leads to two equally fatal results: the organizations take on a public life; and they foster divisions that every good citizen should seek to extinguish—divisions which, with the aid of strange and corporate affiliations, reappear instantaneously whenever any kind of exclusive right to patriotism is proclaimed, producing accusations against unaffiliated citizens and hatred against unaffiliated organizations. Also, delegations, collective addresses, participation in public ceremonies, recommendations, or certificates given to a few favored persons, or praise and blame distributed among the citizens, are similarly infractions of the constitutional law and means of persecution of which evil men seize hold. Records of their debates, the publication of their resolutions, and the galleries set up in their meeting halls for spectators, are acts contrary to the constitution. They commit a very grave crime when they seek to influence administrative or judicial acts. And lastly that even the Revolution itself cannot waive the orders summoning public officials to account for their conduct. Acts of violence were committed in order to destroy the judicial proceedings against so-called patriots—an audacity which forced a tribunal to designate seats in its courtroom for deputies of these clubs so they could watch over criminal proceedings and judgments. These commissioners' dispatches are being sent to various places to delegate tasks that can only be assigned by constituted authorities, a right that belongs only to men in public office. A veil must be cast over all these actions. We must even repeat that their logic and goals have often been to protect our efforts and work against malicious attacks, and in confounding the latter's maneuvers, they hastened the establishment of liberty. But now, such actions would only be a shameful malfeasance, a criminal attack on the authorities established by the constitution. The friends of the constitution, those who have sworn to maintain it by force of arms, have agreed to distinguish themselves only through the most profound respect for the constituted powers, and the most absolute repudiation of any thought of creating political entities proscribed by the constitution. The organizations that were formed to hear about and support its principles are only gatherings, friendship clubs which play no more role than any citizen, that is, to protect the constitution. They can learn, discuss, and teach one another, but their conferences and their internal proceedings must never go beyond the confines of their meeting halls. No public characteristic or collective action should bring attention to them. No one can contest these constitutional principles, yet we still see them violated. Collective petitions are forbidden, yet they are addressed to the constituent body itself, they are posted in the streets, and administrative officers and municipal authorities are worn out by them. . . . Everyone has sworn to support the constitution, everyone calls for order and public peace, everyone wants an end to Revolution. From now on, these are the unequivocal signs of patriotism. The time of destruction is past. No abuses remain to be overthrown, no prejudices remain to fight against. From now on, we must embellish this edifice of which liberty and equality are the keystones. We must endear the new order to those who have shown themselves to be its enemies. And we must consider our most fearsome adversaries as those who seek to slander or degrade the established authorities, or to take over certain organizations in order to give them an active role in the administration of the state, turning them into arbitrary censors, turbulent detractors, and perhaps even despotic subjugators of public officials. . . . Having spoken of the constitutional principles and the acts that tarnish them, does it need to be stated that the public existence of organizations, their affiliations, their newspapers, their collective petitions, their illegal influence, are able to alarm all peaceful citizens and alienate those who wish to live peacefully under the protection of the laws? It is in the nature of things that deliberative societies seek to acquire some external influence, or that that wicked or ambitious men seek to take control of them to serve as instruments of their ambition or revenge. If the actions of these organizations become public, if they are transmitted through a network of affiliations and published in their newspapers, a constituted authority can be rapidly debased or discredited, or a citizen defamed. No one can fight such slander. A person is accused, but by his enemy. It is too easy to accuse and too easy to give this accusation an air of respectability. Society applauds it, sometimes welcoming it. All the affiliated organizations are informed, and the most honest of men, the public servant with the most integrity, can be the victim of the skillful maneuvering of an evil man. From a moral and ethical point of view, as well as from a constitutional point of view, there must be neither organized affiliations, nor published means for reporting their debates. You must believe that public order, the confidence and security of a host of citizens, greatly depends on this. No one wants a master other than the law. If the organization could have an empire, if they held a man's reputation in their hands, if, as corporate entities, they had networks and agents from one end of France to the other, then their members would be the only free men. Or rather, a few affiliated members would have a free hand to destroy public freedom. There must therefore be neither affiliations among societies, nor newspapers reporting their debates. . . . [Le Chapelier presented a draft decree providing penalties against the political intervention of societies in the conduct of public affairs. The assembly proceeded to a discussion of his proposals.] Robespierre: Gentlemen, it is proposed that the assembly order the printing and distribution of the report it has just heard in the form of a directive. However, this report contains ambiguity and expressions that attack the principles of the constitution. The language of liberty and of the constitution were included and spoken of in a manner calculated to destroy them, and to conceal personal views and individual resentments under the guise of goodness, justice, and the public interest. [Applause from the galleries.] Numerous members: Order! Order! Robespierre: It is an art that is by no means foreign to revolutions, and we have seen it used often enough in the course of our own revolution to have learned how to detect and expose it. As for myself, I confess that if I ever strongly felt joy at arriving at the end of our task, it has been in witnessing this last example of that art, wherein we hear charges leveled at the organizations which secured the Revolution. I would have thought that, on the eve of our replacement by a new legislature, we could have relied on both the enlightenment and zeal of our successors . . . to take the most appropriate action. I remember with confidence—and I find this reassuring in view of the way in which we want to end our session—as I was saying, I remember with confidence and satisfaction that a very great number of those about to replace us come from the heart of these organizations. [Applause on the extreme left and in the galleries.] I know that the hope and confidence of the French nation rests particularly with them, and it is to them that the nation seems to entrust the task of defending liberty against the progress of a Machiavellian system that threatens its future ruin. . . . The constitution guarantees all Frenchmen the right to unarmed peaceful assembly. It guarantees them free expression of their ideas, as long as no harm is caused to others. The constitution guarantees all Frenchmen the right to act in any way that is not directly contrary to the laws of the state. In view of these principles, I ask how anyone dares to tell you that the sharing of ideas from one gathering of peaceful, unarmed men to other gatherings of a similar nature can be prohibited by the principles of the constitution? . . . Is it not evident that he who has attacked these principles, he who violates them in the most open manner, is only putting them forth today to make up for the odious attack he gets away with against liberty? How, and under what facade, will you send orders to the departments that are to persuade citizens that the Societies of Friends of the Constitution are forbidden to correspond and affiliate? What is unconstitutional in an affiliation? An affiliation is nothing more than the relationship between one legitimate organization and another, in which they agree to correspond one with another on matters of public interest. How can there be anything unconstitutional about that? Or rather, show me how the constitutional principles that I have outlined do not sanction these truths? . . . Le Chapelier: I ask to reply to Robespierre, who knows not a word of the constitution. [Enthusiastic applause] . . . Robespierre: Praise has been lavished on the Societies of Friends of the Constitution, but in truth this is done only to gain the right to denigrate them, and to make extremely vague allegations that are far from proven and absolutely slanderous. But it doesn't matter, because at least the good that cannot be denied has been said—which is nothing less than acknowledging their services since the beginning of the Revolution in the name of liberty and the nation. It seems to me that this consideration alone would have given the constitutional committee reason not to hasten to restrict societies which, by its own admission, have been so useful. But they say we no longer need these organizations because the Revolution is over and it is time to break the tool that has served us so well. [Applause from the galleries] . . . The Revolution is finished. I would certainly like to join you in assuming this to be true, although I am not entirely clear of the meaning you attach to this proposition that I have heard repeated with such affectation. But assuming this to be the case, is it less necessary now to propagate the knowledge, the constitutional principles, and the public spirit without which the constitution cannot exist? Is it less useful now to form assemblies in which citizens can concern themselves with these matters which are the most important interests of their country, in the most effective manner? Is there a more legitimate or more worthy concern for a free people? To be able to truly say that the Revolution is finished, it requires that the Constitution be firmly consolidated, for its destruction or weakening would necessarily prolong the Revolution, which is nothing more than the nation's efforts to preserve or attain liberty. How then can it be proposed that the most powerful means of consolidating the constitution, that which the committee's spokesman has himself acknowledged to have been generally recognized as necessary until now, be rendered invalid and without influence? For my part, I see on the one hand that the fledgling constitution still has enemies from within and without, that the nature of the discourse and outward appearances have changed while actions remain the same, and that hearts could only have been changed by a miracle. I see plots and duplicity sounding the alarm at the same time as they sow unrest and discord, and leaders of opposing factions fighting less for the cause of the Revolution than for access to power in order to rule in the monarch's name. On the other, I see the excessive zeal with which they call for blind obedience while, at the same time, dictate every word of liberty. I see the extraordinary means they use to kill the public's spirit by rekindling prejudices, irresponsibility, and idolatry. . . . When I see these things, I do not believe that the Revolution is finished. . . . If I must adopt other language, if I must stop protesting against the plans of the state's enemies, if I must applaud my country's ruin, order what fate you will for me, but let me die before liberty is lost. [Mutterings and applause] Even so, men will remain in France that will be sufficiently sincere and devoted to liberty, sufficiently farsighted to perceive the traps that are being laid all around us and to prevent the traitors from ever enjoying the fruits of their efforts. I know that in preparing the success of the plans that are being put forth in your discussions today, care has been taken to proliferate criticisms, sophisms, slander, and all the petty means used by the petty men who are both the disgrace, and the scourge, of revolutions. [Applause in the galleries, laughter in the center] I know that all the knaves and fools in France have been brought around to their opinions. [Renewed laughter] I know that these kinds of schemes give great pleasure to all who are fond of prevaricating with impunity, because anyone who is corruptible fears the surveillance of informed citizens, just as criminals fear the light that reveals their hideous crimes. Only virtue can unearth this sort of conspiracy against the patriotic organizations. Destroy them, and you will have eliminated the most powerful restraint against corruption, and you will have overthrown the last obstacle in the way of its sinister schemes. For the conspirators, the plotters, the ambitious, will know well how to gather and elude the law whose passage they have secured. Sortable Date 1790-09-20 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived M. J. Mavidal and M. E. Laurent, eds., Archives parlementaires de 1787 à 1860, première série (1787 à 1799), 2d ed., 82 vols. (Paris: Dupont, 1879–1913), 31:617–23. Description An account of the resource The "Champ de Mars Massacre" inaugurated a brief period of political repression directed at the popular movement and dramatized the growing tension between the claims of political activism and the desire of moderates to bring the Revolution to an orderly close. This issue was foremost in the minds of the representatives in the very last days of the Constituent Assembly, as they debated a proposal for a new decree limiting the political role of clubs. The decree was adopted but never implemented. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 399 Title A name given to the resource National Assembly Debate on Clubs (20 September 1791) Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/399/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource September 20, 1790 Clubs Popular Politics Sans-culottes Text The Terror https://revolution.chnm.org/files/original/598a9ba1a4c7139aecda4041d320b313.jpg 0a3e956de5a76ac06f41a9938b1a06ab Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Engraving Physical Dimensions The actual physical size of the original image 11 x 16 cm Title (French) The image's title, in French. Ouverture du Club de la Révolution Sortable Date 1789-00-00 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Bibliothèque Nationale de France Description An account of the resource This engraving depicts a revolutionary club as a circus act complete with dancing dogs and clowns, all celebrating "the law and the King." This image might have been visual propaganda on behalf of clubs, suggesting that they could bring different people together under a big tent, in support of the constitutional monarchy, or it might have been visual farce, suggesting that the clubs and the constitutional monarchy were nothing but a sideshow. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource None Identified Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Public Domain Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource JPEG Language A language of the resource French Title A name given to the resource Opening of the Club of the Revolution: Circus Act Relation A related resource http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/135/|Collection Michel Hennin. Estampes relatives à l'Histoire de France. Tome 123, Pièces 10802-10907, période : 1790 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1789-1790 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 135 Clubs Image Popular Politics Public Opinion Sans-culottes The Terror Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document Legislators, when our country is in danger, all her children should hurry to her defense. Never has so great a peril threatened our country. We have been sent to this sanctuary of law by the commune of Paris to present the wishes of an immense nation. Imbued with respect for the nation's representatives and fully confident in their courageous patriotism, Paris has not despaired of the salvation of the people, but believes that for France's ills to be healed, they must be attacked at the source without waiting another minute. It is with sadness that Paris must hereby denounce the chief of the executive power. . . . We shall not retrace all of Louis XVI's misdeeds since the first days of the revolution: his bloody policies against the city of Paris, his predilection for nobles and priests, his aversion for the National Constituent Assembly, that body of the people has been outraged by court valets and besieged by armed men, as they wandered in the middle of a royal city, and found asylum only in a tennis court. We shall not retrace the oaths that have been broken so many times, protests ceaselessly renewed and ceaselessly belied by actions, until the moment when a perfidious flight opened the eyes of even those citizens who had been most blinded by the fanaticism of slavery. We shall put aside all that which is covered by the people's pardon, but to pardon is not to forget. Besides, it would be in vain to try to forget all these misdeeds. They will soil the pages of history, and will be remembered by posterity. Royal inviolability and perpetual changes in the ministry allowed the agents of the executive power to elude their responsibilities. A conspiratorial guard appears to have been dissolved, but it still exists; it is still funded by Louis XVI and sows the seeds of trouble which will yield a harvest of civil war. Priests, as agitators, abusing their power over timid consciences, turn sons against fathers and, from the sacred land of liberty, send new soldiers to march under the banners of servitude. These enemies of the people are protected by the appeal to the people, and Louis XVI upholds their right to conspire. . . . From without, enemy armies threaten our territory. A manifesto against the French nation, as insolent as it is absurd has been published by two despots. Treasonous Frenchmen, led by the King's brothers, relatives, and allies, are preparing to strike at the heart of the country. Already the enemy, at our frontiers is sending butchers against our warriors. . . . The chief of the executive power is the key link in the counterrevolutionary chain. He seems to participate in the plots of Pillnitz, which he has so tardily made known. Every day his name is in conflict with that of the nation, and has become a signal for discord between the people and its magistrates, between the soldiers and their generals. He has separated his interests from those of the nation. We, too, separate them. Far from having opposed the enemies without and within by any formal act, his conduct is a perpetual and formal act of disobedience to the constitution. As long as we have such a king, freedom cannot grow strong and we want to remain free. Out of the remnant of indulgence, we would have wanted to be able to ask you to suspend Louis XVI for as long as the danger to our country exists, but that would be unconstitutional. Louis XVI ceaselessly invokes the constitution; we invoke it in turn, and ask that he be deposed. As it is very doubtful that the nation can have confidence in the present dynasty, once this great motion is carried, we ask that the ministers named by the National Assembly from those outside its membership wield collective responsibility. They, in accordance with constitutional law and named by free men in voice vote, will wield executive power provisionally while waiting for the will of the people, our sovereign and yours, to be legally pronounced in a national convention as soon as the security of the State permits. Meanwhile, let all our enemies, whoever they may be, form ranks beyond our frontiers. Let the cowards and the perjurers abandon freedom's soil. Let three-hundred thousand slaves come forward for they will find before them ten million free men, as ready for death as for victory, fighting for equality, for their homes, their wives, their children, and their parents. Let each of us be a soldier in turn and if we are to have the honor of dying for our country, let each of us, before breathing his last, make his memory illustrious for the death of a tyrant or a slave. Sortable Date 1792-08-03 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Le Moniteur, no. 218 (5 August 1792), 916–17. Description An account of the resource Just after the Festival of 14 July, leaders of some of the more radical Parisian sections drafted, on behalf of the French nation, a petition calling on the Legislative Assembly to take emergency measures to ensure "the salvation of the people" by dethroning the King. This petition was presented to the assembly on 3 December by the mayor of Paris, Jérôme Pétion, and then printed as a pamphlet. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 318 Title A name given to the resource Parisian Petitions to Dethrone the King (3 August 1792) Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/318/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource August 3, 1792 Clubs Monarchy Popular Politics Public Opinion Text Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document Police Report on a Session of the Cordelier Club 24 Ventôse Year II (16 March 1794) At the opening of the session, a member demanded that those Cordeliers who would be missing a session while the Club was in continuous session should be expelled from the society. This motion was vigorously opposed and defeated. . . . On all sides people asked for correspondence to be read out, but none had arrived. A member who just happened to have Saint-Just's latest report in his pocket mounted the rostrum and read it. This kept the society busy for an hour. Next it was announced that the caretaker had received letters addressed to Vincent. The society had them brought in and decided that a deputation should take them to the Public Prosecutor. . . . The society had only closed its permanent session because several of its members had been arrested, and since no speaker had introduced the topic, the decision was postponed, and there would be sessions only on normal days. Session closed at 9:30. Observations The habitués of the gallery, i.e., those who occupy the front benches, said nothing. They no longer spoke of rescuing the arrested members from prison. The other people in the gallery said openly that the Père Duchesne and the others were knaves who deserved the guillotine. They rejoiced in anticipation of the moment when they would see them suffer. These demonstrations of joy can be found among the whole people of Paris: in the markets; on the street corners; everywhere, they say the same. This desire to see the conspirators punished proves how attached the people are to liberty. They regret that there is no more rigorous form of execution than the guillotine. They say that something should be invented to make them suffer longer. Condemnation is general. The day before yesterday several people took up their defense, but yesterday they were afraid to declare their possible innocence. Sortable Date 1794-03-16 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived W. Markov and Albert Soboul, Die Sanculotten von Paris Dokumente zur Geschichte ver Voksbewegung (1957), no. 69. Description An account of the resource In the passage below, a police observer of a Cordelier Club meeting notes the ongoing concern of the participants to identify and then to denounce "conspiracies" against the republic, even when the conspitators had been very recently integral to the club. In this case, the focus is on Hébert, editor of the Père Duchesne. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 403 Title A name given to the resource Police Report on a Session of the Cordeliers Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/403/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March 16, 1794 Clubs Popular Politics Sans-culottes Text Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document The "real" National Assembly does not always hold its sessions on the merry-go-round. Divided into more or less numerous groups, they often sit along the Feuillants terrace [the former convent of the Cistercian order, located near the Tuileries], and along the flower beds adjacent to the Tuileries gardens. They also often deliberate around the pond at the Palais Royale. It is in these roving clubs that the pure flame of patriotism burns the brightest. It is there that the public conscience and the majority opinion are elaborated. It is there that the fruit of these ongoing lectures is harvested. It is there that one has to go for the clear thoughts of the People, this People outrageously slandered by those who had always held them at the greatest possible distance. For the philosopher who has not given up on the long-debased human race, Paris offers the most satisfying view of man's emulation. Almost all of the National Assembly's decrees that have a large element of common sense are basically those that echoed motions from the people. On the other hand, the constitutional decisions, or the other decisions that left something to be desired, were precisely those that were farthest from what the people, in their wisdom, had decided. The decree on the silver coin, that on the law of war and peace, that on the royal veto, that on the Nancy scandal which was badly presented, the firing of the ministers which was not deliberated, etc., etc.: all these denials given to public opinion were disowned in advance by the People passing motions in the street. The three great days of our Revolution bore witness to more than the three preceding centuries had ever seen. That sudden insurrection of Sunday, July 12th, continued over to Monday, was then taken to its apex on the 14th. . . . [F]or which causes is France indebted to this salutary effort? For the motions of the Palais Royale that had taken place for a month between the bayonets; for the stunning satisfaction that the people of Paris went to demand from the chateau of Versailles; for the sacrilegious scandal brought down upon the national sovereignty; and for that memorable night of 5–6 October, which was the night of the final judgment for a number of people who had raised themselves above the law and based their small strange pleasures on general disaster? This generous movement, that etched terror into the souls of the cowards at court who were considering a civil war is due to the People's sense of righteousness. Good people of France! You can become the premier country in the world. You have started the most beautiful revolution in the history of mankind, and it is up to you to take it to its end. Continue to go to public places, assemble often, unburden yourselves of your boring and monotonous drudgery, and consecrate your leisure time and your days of rest to the discussion of the nation's interests and the examination of your leaders' conduct. Let none of the political currents that take place around you go unnoticed. Be strangers to nothing. Let your dignity enfold you, know the extent of your power, and multiply the light of your wisdom by stringing together the sparks of genius of each and every individual that makes up your imposing mass. Of all your weapons, there is not one with a caliber equal to that of education. Education is the refuge of your independence. Good people of France! Cultivate your own reasoning. Set up patriotic lectures at the heart of every town and in the countryside. If the local priest refuses to turn over the pulpit, or if he mixes the wheat and the chaff, let the most able father assemble his children and his neighbors under the church porch or on the threshold of his cottage and read the decrees from the National Assembly so that they may be discussed by those present. Let each person improvise in his own way, without any other aim but that of the public good. And soon the simplest of men, guided by that moral instinct with which nature has blessed all thinking beings, will be in a position to appreciate things and people for their true worth. Over time, these small committees will become a type of country court where you can summon your leaders to appear to face natural reason. Then it will not be so easy to be fooled by the questionable character of the many ambitious but clever people, nor to be dragged into situations that are against your most vital interests. Then you will be truly worthy of this national sovereignty that a handful of ministerial brigands has shamelessly taken from you. Then, you will renounce the worship of cult figures. Good People, it is only then that it will be superfluous to tell you what now requires a little repeating. Sortable Date 1790-10-23 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Révolutions de Paris, no. 68 (23 October 1790), 116. Description An account of the resource In the view of the most radical commentators, such as those writing for the newspaper Révolutions de Paris, the Revolution had to be the work of more than just the deputies of the National Assembly; it had to be an effort of the common people. To encourage that effort, the newspaper here calls upon all good patriots to form groups in their towns and villages whose purpose will be to debate the major issues of the day, form opinions on them, and, most important, hold demonstratations so as to make certain that the National Assembly will hear of the input of the "good people" of France and not merely that of the "aristocrats." Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 372 Title A name given to the resource Populace Awake Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/372/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource October 23, 1790 Clubs Popular Politics Sans-culottes Text The Terror https://revolution.chnm.org/files/original/a719d73ae501974ba9cae2a8d7eb4e5a.jpg e76693879c9eb839cc3be87b37d19baf https://revolution.chnm.org/files/original/d6209d1579e7e1deb5a403a9a8b52f25.jpg cc832af0022ee38710ba0f865692a141 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Engraving Physical Dimensions The actual physical size of the original image 19.5 x 16cm Title (French) The image's title, in French. Président d'un Comité Révolutionnaire, après la levée d'un Scelé Sortable Date 1794-00-00 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Bibliothèque Nationale de France Description An account of the resource Critics of popular action first mastered the art of searing attacks and here sharpen their propaganda skills against this activist worker, who appears to be walking off with his "loot" after the locks have been broken. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource None Identified Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Public Domain Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource JPEG Language A language of the resource French Title A name given to the resource President of a Revolutionary Committee After the Seal Is Taken Off Relation A related resource http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/601/|Collection de Vinck. Un siècle d'histoire de France par l'estampe, 1770-1870. Vol. 48 (pièces 6461-6583), Ancien Régime et Révolution Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1794-1795 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 601 Clubs Image Popular Politics Sans-culottes The Terror